The Little Bears

The feature emerged from a series of spot illustrations of a bear cub that began appearing in The San Francisco Examiner starting October 14, 1893.

[1] Jimmy Swinnerton started his career in 1892 as a young illustrator for the San Francisco Examiner, one of William Randolph Hearst's newspapers.

His chief task was to provide drawings for news stories in the days before photoengraving, however, he also drew editorial cartoons and other illustrations for the paper.

When the fair closed, the Little Bear disappeared from the paper, but he returned on September 10, 1894, and started accompanying the weather report from October 2, 1894 until May 1895.

The Little Bear continued to appear in spot cartoons and with the weather forecast for several years, drawn by other artists including Grant Wallace, Ralph Yardley and Bob Edgren.